# mafintosh/why-is-node-running

Node is running but you don't know why? why-is-node-running is here to help you.

Repository: https://github.com/mafintosh/why-is-node-running
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/why-is-node-running
Language: JavaScript
License: MIT
License Family: permissive
Last push: 2025-01-08T15:01:13+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 30/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-02T17:46:02.011165+00:00)
- activity 0, release rhythm 28, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3858, "days_push": 602, "days_rel": 602, "gap_med": 70, "n_releases_24m": 2}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1947, forks 52 (observed 2026-08-28T04:05:57.870699+00:00)

## What it is
why-is-node-running is a Node.js library and CLI that logs the active handles (timers, servers, etc.) keeping a Node process running. It can be used programmatically, via a CLI wrapper, or preloaded with Node's --import flag.

## Use cases
- find out why my node process won't exit
- debug lingering timers and open servers in node
- log active handles keeping node running
- diagnose hanging node scripts
- inspect what keeps the event loop alive

## When to choose
- a Node.js process stays alive and you don't know which handles are responsible
- you want a quick CLI or signal-based way to dump active handles with stack traces

## When to avoid
- debugging non-Node.js processes
- you need full CPU/memory profiling rather than handle inspection

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: active
- function: developer-tools, monitoring, logging
- domain: developer-tools, backend
- platform: cli, cross-platform
- tags: debugging, nodejs, event-loop, handles, diagnostics

## Member repositories
- mafintosh/why-is-node-running (main) score 30

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:57.870699+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T03:07:07.600125+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/mafintosh/why-is-node-running (fetched 2026-08-28T04:05:57.870699+00:00, sha 9e36a93f2b40)
  - registry_npm: https://registry.npmjs.org/why-is-node-running (fetched 2026-08-29T10:47:02.465318+00:00, sha 8d6ec8486c0d)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.